Think Bisexual People Have Straight Passing Privilege? Here’s Why You’re Mistaken

July 3, 2016 / Ronnie Ritchie

Bisexual people may not be perceived as queer if they’re dating someone perceived as the “opposite” of their gender – so does that mean they have straight passing privilege?

You might think so, but try considering the perspective in this comic for a more nuanced answer to this question. It’s a breakdown of the assumptions behind the idea of bisexual “straight passing privilege” – and the harm you cause by erasing people’s identities when you make these assumptions.

It’s possible to acknowledge that different queer folks have different experiences without erasing anyone. This will show you how.

With Love,
The Editors at Everyday Feminism

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Click for the Transcript

Yes, Saying a Queer Person has “Straight Passing Privilege” is Harmful and Here’s Why

Panel 1

(Person A waves in greeting at the others sitting in a circle for an LGBTQIA+ discussion group regarding privilege.)

Person A: Hi, I’m Vicky, and my pronouns are xe/hir. I’m bisexual, but my current partners are male. I have able-bodied privilege, for sure. I see it even in the polyamorous community.

Person B: (Person B pipes in.) What about your straight passing privilege?

Panel 2

(Person A is confused, but Person B is upset.)

Person A: …I don’t have straight-passing privilege.

Person B: Yeah, you do! You can be completely open about your relationships when I have to pick and choose where I can even hold hands with my partner!

Panel 3

(Person A tries to explain.)

Person A: I might not get much harassment on the street, no, but that doesn’t overshadow the fact that I can never be entirely who I am because people keep making assumptions based on who I might be with at any one point, or even when I’m single.

Panel 4

(Person A gestures to two diagrams. Both show a person holding hands with someone of their same gender and another gender. In the diagram labeled “straight,” the image of the people with the same gender is crossed out. In the diagram labeled “gay,” the image of people with differing genders is crossed out.)

Person A: In both circumstances, either my same-gender or other-gender attractions are discounted.

Panel 5

(Person A stands below one of the diagrams pointing at the image of one person in each couple, frowning. An arrow points to that person as well, labeled “not a boy or a girl.” Both couples are crossed out, as neither are “gay” or “straight.”)

Person A: Not to mention the rampant misgendering involved in claiming me, a non-binary person, as straight or gay. Straight is always seen as a man and a woman together, and gay as two men or two women. As I’m not solely male or female, none of these assumptions are correct, and are even transphobic!

Panel 6

(Picture of Person A at a dinner date, with the image of a door superimposed on them as they watch their date continue to talk, unaware of the weight on Person A)

Person A: So yes, my relationship itself isn’t in the closet, but sometimes being locked up on your own is even more isolating.

Panel 8

Person A: And I don’t need another voice implying that because I don’t suffer from homophobia this one specific way that I’m not suffering at all!

Panel 9

(Person B scratches the back of their neck, humbled.)

Person B: …Oh. Uh, what should I say instead, then?

Person A: I don’t know. How about “I acknowledge that our lives as queer people are complicated, and we differ in many ways?”

Panel 10

Person B: I think I can do that.

Person A: Awesome. Do you want to talk about other privileges, now?

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Ronnie Rene Ritchie is a Contributing Comic Artist for Everyday Feminism, an illustrator, and storyteller working out of Peterborough, Ontario. Since graduating from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon with a BFA in Illustration, Ronnie has had work featured in galleries and sex shops across North America, and their autobiographical webcomic, GQutie, has seen its popularity soar online. Learn more about GQutie, Ronnie’s illustration, or follow them on Twitter @ronithebear.